Syria crisis: Damascus clashes continue - Tuesday 17 July 2012

A video grab show vehicle on fire in the Naher Aisha area of Damascus, Syria. The state news agency said the authorities chased terrorists in the area. According to activists, Syrian troops with armoured vehicles deployed in Damascus. Photograph: Shaam news/EPA

Syria

• Serious clashes continue in various parts of Damascus for the third consecutive day, though activists differ on whether they represent the start of a battle for control of the Syrian capital (see 1.44pm). A senior figure in the Free Syrian Army said today that the "battle for the liberation of Damascus has begun" (see 2.55pm). An activist in Damascus told the Guardian the latest developments are "the turning point" but added: "We are not talking about them [the FSA] taking full control, we are talking about hit and run tactics" (see 4.15pm).

• Britain is to train and equip an additional 20 Syrian human rights activists to join 47 who were trained earlier this year and have been gathering evidence of the Assad regime's crimes against its own civilians, foreign secretary William Hague announced today (see 1.31pm).

• Kofi Annan met President Putin in Moscow today and said afterwards: "We've had a very good discussion" (see 4.26pm).

Egypt

• Brawls broke out in a courtroom today as judges tried to debate rulings that could either bolster the country's new Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, or undermine him in his power struggle with the military (see 1.42pm).

A military campaign on the districts of the capital Damascus continues for the third day in a row. Today the campaign has been focused on al-Qaboon since night time, where regime forces began cordoning off the area from all directions. Then, extremely heavy mortar and tank shelling started, alongside the participation of helicopter shelling.

Security forces and the army remain deployed, accompanied by tanks and armoured vehicles, in al-Midan district, where clashes take place from time to time.

For the first time, clashes took place in al-Mazra'ah area in the centre of Damascus, in the vicinity of the headquarters of the Ba'ath party, in addition to clashes in Barzeh, al-Tadamun, al-Zahirah, Mukhayam Yarmouk [Yarmouk camp], al-Qadam, al-Asalee, Nahr Aisha and other areas.

Regime forces brought in large reinforcements of soldiers, armoured vehicles and tanks inside the capital, with a spreed of checkpoints and blocking off roads leading to security centres in most areas of the capital.

Reinforcements were also brought to entrances of the capital that link it to the suburbs.

4.35pm:Syria: The foreign ministry has complained that "politicised decisions" adopted by the UN Human Rights Council have "given the green light to the armed terrorist groups to go ahead in the acts of killing against the Syrian people", the government news agency reports.

In a report to the UN secretary-general it said:

Time has come for the Human Rights Council and those who mislead it to abandon the accusations pointed to Syria and to direct these accusations to their right place; the armed terrorist groups which perpetrate acts of killing against the Syrian people, target the national interests in addition to its ignorance to the difficult impacts of 60 bulks of sanctions and coercive measures imposed by states that claim commitment to the Syrian people's rights.

4.26pm:Syria: Media statement from Kofi Annan, the joint special envoy for Syria, following his meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today:

We've had a very good discussion with the president, discussing the situation and the crisis in Syria, focusing on what measures need to be taken to end the violence and the killing and how we move on to the political transition.

Obviously, the discussions in the security council regarding the resolution also came up. And I would hope that the council will continue its discussions and hopefully find language that will pull everybody together for us to move forward on this critical issue.

As I said earlier, we need to do whatever we can to stop the violence, to stop the killing, and the council, I expect, will be sending a message out, that the killing must stop and the situation on the ground is unacceptable. Hopefully, the council will come together in a united manner and press ahead in search of peace.

4.23pm:Syria: The FSA claims to have brought down a military helicopter involved in the shelling of Harasta and al-Qabun districts of Damascus, Now Lebanon says, citing the Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV. There is currently no confirmation from other sources.

Meanwhile, the video above, posted on YouTube today, purports to show an armoured vehicle captured by anti-Assad forces in the Midan district of Damascus.

There are fights going on. Aircraft [helicopters] are shelling the areas of Midan, Jobar, Qaboon. This is the turning point that the regime is shelling Damascus ... Damascenes are leaving their homes to find shelter in other neighbourhoods. That didn't happen before.

Lena said rebels enjoyed significant support in the city, but they are too weak militarily to take over the city.

The Free Syrian Army is supported by the people, because we know that they are are only hope, after the whole world has failed us. We have to go through the battle in order to stay alive.

We are not talking about them taking full control, we are talking about hit and run tactics. This is what the Free Syrian Army is opting for ... We back them up 100% we trust their choices.

We are not expecting this to end soon. We could see it coming. We knew that what happened in other cities of Syria, like Homs, Deraa, Idlib, Deir Ezzor is about to come to Damascus. We were hoping for this not to be true. We were hoping for a political solution, but of course the regime refused any kind of political solution. Russia is still backing up the Syrian regime, so they have left us no way out.

We have no other choice. We have to stand up on our own even if it takes a long time. Now this is in Damascus, this is the last frontier.

3.20pm:Syria: The Assad regime has moved troops from the Golan Heights to reinforce Damascus, according to the Israeli army intelligence chief.

Assad has removed many of his forces that were in the Golan Heights to the areas of (internal) conflict. He's not afraid of Israel at this point, but mainly wants to augment his forces around Damascus.

2.55pm:Syria: A senior figure in the Free Syrian Army said today that the "battle for the liberation of Damascus has begun".

Colonel Qassim Saadeddine, Homs-based spokesman for the FSA's Joint Command, said the fighting will not stop until the whole of the capital has been conquered, the Lebanese LBCI website reports.

"We have transferred the battle from Damascus province to the capital," Saadeddine is quoted as saying. "We have a clear plan to control the whole of Damascus. We only have light weapons, but it's enough."

The report is unconfirmed at this stage and we are not clear how Ziad is related to Manaf.

Tlass family tree

He doesn't appear on the Guardian's Tlass family tree.

2.31pm:Syria: One little-reported aspect of the conflict is casualties among the Syrian military. Under the headline: "The other side of Syria's civil war", Foreign Policy has a series of sombre pictures showing flag-draped coffins, mourners and military funerals.

"Death comes for Bashar al-Assad's soldiers, too," it says.

2.05pm:Syria: An update from the International Committee of the Red Cross which also explains the changed situation in terms of humanitarian law:

There has recently been an escalation in fighting between government forces and armed opposition groups, especially in Rural Damascus. The ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent are responding to the most urgent needs of residents and displaced people in several parts of the country.

Fighting has been taking place continuously in Homs governorate and Deir Ezzor and sporadically in Dar'a, where the number of displaced people is growing fast. The situation in the rural areas of Aleppo governorate is also still very tense, especially in northern villages.

As a result, an increasing number of people are struggling to preserve their safety and their livelihoods, and thousands of people are fleeing to take refuge with families, friends or other people. To meet the growing needs, the ICRC is providing help together with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent for people in northern Syria. "Since mid-2011, we have brought aid to over 600,000 people jointly with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent," said Robert Mardini, the ICRC's head of operations for the Near and Middle East.

As the situation has evolved, the ICRC has continued to monitor the conflict in the country. The ICRC concludes that there is currently a non-international (internal) armed conflict occurring in Syria opposing Government Forces and a number of organised armed opposition groups operating in several parts of the country (including, but not limited to, Homs, Idlib and Hama).

Thus, hostilities between these parties wherever they may occur in Syria are subject to the rules of international humanitarian law. These rules impose limits on how the fighting can be conducted, with the aim of protecting the civilian population and persons not, or no longer, directly participating in the hostilities.

"As a neutral and independent humanitarian organisation with a mandate to promote respect for international humanitarian law, the ICRC's preferred way of addressing humanitarian issues is through bilateral and confidential dialogue," said Mr Mardini.

"This approach enables us to obtain and preserve access to the people most affected by armed conflict or other violence and to the warring parties themselves." The ICRC and its staff cannot be compelled to testify before any court or tribunal. Its documents and reports, including those shared with the authorities, cannot be used as evidence in any legal proceedings.

• Britain is to train and equip an additional 20 Syrian human rights activists to join 47 who were trained earlier this year and have been gathering evidence of the Assad regime's crimes against its own civilians, foreign secretary William Hague announced today (see 1.31pm).

Egypt

• Brawls broke out in a courtroom today as judges tried to debate rulings that could either bolster the country's new Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, or undermine him in his power struggle with the military (see 1.42pm).

These clashes in the capital mark a new stage in the Syrian revolution. It is close now.

The regime has tried hard in the last year and half to make Damascus [isolated] from what's going on outside - to make Damascus quiet. They succeeded in the past, but yesterday there was shelling here, and [today] there was shelling on al-Qaboon and shelling on the south. Suddenly Damascus is in the centre of the action.

Inside Barzeh there is no sign of government presence. I think they don't dare to fight here. They are stuck in Midan and Qaboon. They are too busy to come here. They used to storm my neighbourhood three times a week.

But Tarek, spokesman for Revolution Leadership Council in Damascus, suggested the latest clashes still represent only skirmishes.

Speaking via Skype from Salehiya north-east of the centre, he said:

I can't say this is the battle for Damascus. The Free Syrian Army didn't start this fight, so I don't believe this is the one. But developments on ground will determine whether it spreads to other areas.

He said gunfire was heard in Mazraa to the north of this centre this morning. He speculated that this could have been sounded as a way "distract the army from the southern part of the city".

He added:

The Free Syrian Army didn't start this fight. It was an operation by the army to put pressure on demonstrators, and the Free Syrian Army.

There are threats from regime forces that they will bombard the southern part of the city - they have stationed tanks and artillery in the southern parts of the city.

1.42pm:Egypt: Brawls broke out in a courtroom today as judges in Cairo tried to debate rulings that could either bolster the country's new Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, or undermine him in his power struggle with the military.

Hundreds of Morsi's supporters came to protest at the courthouse, accusing the generals of using the judiciary to undermine his authority, Reuters reports.

Legal opinion is split on whether the Cairo administrative court will strike down Egypt's constituent assembly, formed by an Islamist-dominated parliament with the tasked of re-writing Egypt's constitution.

The divisions were reflected at the court, where members of the public pushed and elbowed lawyers and one other, angrily shouting demands and counter demands.

"Down, down with military rule," cried supporters of the Brotherhood who want the constituent assembly to continue its work.

That drew an angry response from their opponents. "Down, down with the rule of the (Brotherhood's) Supreme Guide," shouted a woman as the courtroom descended into mayhem.

"Cancel the session," said lawyer Nabiel Gabriel. "This isn't justice... I am holding Mursi personally accountable for this chaos. He has a responsibility to establish order."

Judge Abdel Salam el-Naggar told the crowd the court would not be intimidated and suspended proceeedings to allow the atmosphere to cool before reconvening lawyers in a separate court chamber.

Photograph: Valentin Flauraud/Reuters

1.31pm:Syria: Britain is to step up its support for those documenting the Assad regime's crimes against its own civilians, foreign secretary William Hague announced today.

The UK will train and equip an additional 20 Syrian human rights activists to join 47 who were trained earlier this year and have been gathering evidence for the UN since April, Hague said.

His announcement came during a visit to the Bashabsheh refugee camp in Jordan, near the border with Syria, the Press Association reports. In the camp he met some of the thousands of people who have fled their homes after civilian areas came under assault from military forces loyal to president Bashar Assad.

Hague is quoted as saying:

Today I have seen first-hand the terrible price being paid by the Syrian people and heard harrowing accounts of how they have suffered. It is more clear than ever that we must work to ensure that there is no impunity for those committing violations and abuses in Syria.

They must understand that their actions have consequences, that acting on behalf of the regime does not absolve them of responsibility, and that we are committed to doing all that we can to hold them to account ...

I have therefore announced that the UK will train a further 20 human rights activists to interview victims and record what is happening on the ground, so that the evidence can be used in future trials.

I pay tribute to the commitment and dedication of those undertaking this vital work, which often places them at great personal risk.

12.22pm:Syria: AP says the use of helicopters over Damascus marks a "clear escalation" of the clashes in the capital.

"I can hear cracks of gunfire and some explosions from the direction of Midan," al-Shami told The Associated Press via Skype. "Black smoke is billowing from the area."

Dutch journalist Sander van Hoorn tweets a distant image of a helicopter over the Syrian capital:

12.09pm:UAE: Three Emirati Islamists including a prominent lawyer were arrested today as part of a widening clampdown on Islamist dissidents, Reuters reports citing relatives and activists.

The arrests brought the number of detained Emirati dissidents, most of them Islamists, to 10 since Sunday, when the Gulf Arab state said it was investigating a foreign-linked group planning "crimes against the security of the state".

The UAE, a major oil exporter, allows no organised political opposition. It has avoided the political unrest that has toppled four Arab heads of state since last year thanks in part to its cradle-to-grave welfare system.

But it has also moved swiftly against dissidents, and last year stripped citizenship from Islamists whom it deemed a security threat and jailed activists who called for more power for a semi-elected advisory council.

Lawyer Mohammed al-Roken, his son and son-in-law were detained on Tuesday, activists and family members said. All are linked to the local Islamist group al-Islah (Reform), which has been the target of a crackdown in the UAE. Roken represented seven Islamists stripped of citizenship last year.

"He (Roken) was taken by security officials at 2am in the morning when he was out with the driver looking for his son and son-in-law who were also arrested," a relative told Reuters.

Attendees of the debates said that much of the tension was between first generation followers of the party and those who joined later, many of whom became active as part of the UGTE, the student union that swelled the party's ranks during the 1980s.

In a press conference yesterday, president of the congress Nejmeddine Hamrouni acknowledged that some younger members of the party indeed held more conservative views that were in conflict with the moderate line so far extolled publicly by the party. In March, Ennahdha announced it would not push for Islamic law to be made the basis of Tunisia's new constitution.

11.09am:Syria: A deputy police chief, Brigadier Issa Duba, is reported (in Arabic, by a pro-Assad website) to have died from wounds sustained during the clashes in Damascus.

Meanwhile, activist Shakeeb al-Jabri claims more than 200 soldiers have been injured or killed during the last 48 hours in Damascus.

Reliable source that more than 200 Assad soldiers showed up between injured and dead at military hospitals in Damascus past 48h.

10.40am:Syria: Joshua Landis, the veteran Syria-watcher, is now "torn" about whether the US should become more deeply involved, Barbara Slavin writes at Al-Monitor.

"Obama has been very reluctant to lead on Syria," Landis said. That "has been a smart policy" but it may not stay that way, he said, citing the rising death toll and fragmentation of the country.

"I'm very pessimistic about the future of Syria and that's what makes me so hesitant about jumping in," he told an audience at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. At the same time, he said "decapitation [of the regime] might work," eliminating a president who is increasingly detached from reality.

Bashar al-Assad "is living in this little world [where] everyone else is an extremist," Landis said. Assad is a "loser" and "will never be able to put Syria back together again."

Landis said his criteria for whether the US should do more than provide humanitarian and other non-lethal support for the opposition was whether that would improve the situation.

10.31am:Syria: The Guardian's interactive map showing recent clashes in Damascus has now been updated to take account of the latest developments.

We'll continue to update it while the clashes continue.

9.55am:Syria: The conflict within Syria is being played out far beyond the country's borders, not only at the UN but also on the internet where it is generating much heat, especially on the political left.

The problem with blanket thinkers is that they are unable to adapt to a rapidly shifting reality. Instead of evidence, principles and analytical tools, they are armed only with ideological blinkers. Many of the current crop became politicised by Palestine and the invasion of Iraq, two cases in which the imperialist baddy is very obviously American. As a result, they read every other situation through the US-imperialist lens ...

This in turn leads to grossly unfair portrayals of the people resisting oppression in Syria, he says.

At best they are passive tools. They are also depicted as wild Muslims, bearded and hijabbed, who do not deserve democracy or rights because they are too backward to use them properly. Give them democracy and they'll vote for the Muslim Brotherhood, and slaughter the Alawis and drive the Christians to Beirut.

The blanket thinkers search for evidence of crimes committed by the popular resistance, and when they find them (usually on very flimsy evidence) they use them to smear the entire movement. They demand the resistance negotiate with a regime which has proved again and again that its only strategy is slaughter. They demand that the people remain peaceful as their children are tortured, their women raped, their neighbourhoods levelled.

Leftist blanket thinkers do not apply the same criteria to the popular resistance of the Palestinians. It's Zionists who do that.

The attitudes that Yassin-Kassab addresses – and the conspiracy theories they generate – will be familiar to readers of the Guardian's discussion threads. Our diplomatic editor, Julian Borger, also discussed some of them in an article for Comment is free last week.

Borger was responding to an article by comedy writer Charlie Skelton which was warmly received by the Assad regime – it was featured on Syrian TV, on the government's Syria Online website and praised on Russia Today.